Rio’s favelas are notorious. Over a million people, out of a total population of around 6.5 million, live in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. The vast majority are good, decent, hard-working people but tragically the powerful gangland leaders and drug lords have given the favelas a fearsome reputation and made some of them totally unsafe.

This BBC story provides a glimpse into the lives of a few teenage girls in the Complexo da Penha favela and the remarkable creation of a safe space for them to play football.

Each year the BBC 100 Women series names influential and inspiring women around the world.

At Revealed Travel we are working with the travel industry to support social and environmental projects throughout the region. The LATA Foundation is a charity set up by the members of the Latin America Travel Association and their projects are helping to transform lives, providing clean water, dental or medical support and practical training to provide people with new skills in Mexico, Central and South America.

The LATA Foundation is run entirely by volunteers, most of whom have a background in the travel industry. All donations go to projects with no money spent on administration, salaries or office overheads.

In Rio de Janeiro, since 2009 the LATA Foundation has been supporting a project helping children in the Complexo do Alemao favela originally with a ballet school and now extending to theatre, football and other activities such as photography and audio-visual. The idea is to provide space and support for children to express themselves through the arts in a project called Vidarte Space (literally Life-Art Space). In 2011 the Vidarte Space project had 100 children participating in activities. By 2015 the number had risen to over 400 children.

To encourage the children’s wider education, classes and activities at the projects are subject to the pupils’ own attendance in mainstream education. Three pupils from the ballet school have been selected to attend the Teatro Municipal, the Brazilian equivalent of the National Ballet school.

The LATA Foundation is run entirely by volunteers, most of whom have a background in the travel industry. All donations go to projects with no money spent on administration, salaries or office overheads.

For further information about the LATA Foundation and to make a donation please click onto the link: